Israeli security personnel arrested a Hamas terrorist on Thursday who was planning to carry out a shooting attack in Jerusalem.
According to police, the 29-year-old Palestinian from Ramallah was detained while trying to acquire a weapon for the attack.
The arrest preceded the kickoff in the afternoon of the annual flag march in the Israeli capital, one of the main events marking Jerusalem Day. The march, featuring thousands of Israelis waving flags, celebrates the city’s reunification in the Six-Day War.
This march through the Old City poses a significant test to the recently brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, known for its Hamas sources, reported that while the flag parade was not explicitly addressed in the truce agreement, the Gaza terrorist groups have vowed to oppose any so-called “Israeli aggression” against the Al-Aqsa mosque and any violation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire reached in May 2021 following that month’s war (“Operation Guardian of the Walls”).
Regarding the possibility of rocket fire from Gaza, a Palestinian source said that Hamas aims to keep the Strip out of the hostilities. However, Hamas would consider a “response” in eastern Jerusalem as legitimate, believing that would not undermine the terrorist group’s efforts to rehabilitate the Strip.